The Dirt From The Yard

The Sand Box

Hello my busy little garden buddies. Mother knows all y’all are beginnin’ to sense the sap risin’ just as sure as spring is comin’. We’re all frenetically darting here, digging there, primping this, pruning that, in anticipation of the vernal equinox. Things are just a poppin’ in the garden even though we haven’t gotten much fresh rain. Rain certainly has an immediate magical effect on plants that surpasses ordinary tap water; don’t you think? Maybe it’s the lack of all that chorine. But sugar, if you want to sustain and enhance this garden magic CHECK YOUR DIRT!

Now, chill’run, don’t play ya Mama for a fool. She didn’t just tromp through a muddy field of shitakes. She knows good and well many of you, especially, you naïve and or new gardeners and some of you old codgers too (blame it on lazy), think dirt is dirt. BUT IT AIN’T!! First of all, dirt is soil and understanding soil is probably the most important factor of gardening. Honey. If you know your soil you will be successful in caring for your plants.

Soil is a mixture of mineral particles, air, water, and living and dead organic matters. Of course, the size of the mineral particles and the quantity of the other components in the mixture determine the soil’s type and quality. The sizes of soil particles basically fall into five categories: clay, silt, fine sand, medium sand and course sand, Clay particles have a texture similar to that of corn starch. Silt is like flour; while fine sand feels like sugar or salt. Medium sand can best be compared to corn meal, and course sand is just plain chunky, gravelly to rocky in texture.

The three general soil types are clay, sand, and loam. Clay soils are heavy and fudge like because the soil particles are flatter and fine like corn starch or flour. Adding water to this mix makes it gummy and thick in density; as the air space between the particles is small. Water drains through it very slowly causing the leaching of nutrients to be minimal. Therefore, clay soil has the greatest volume of soluble nutrients than any of the soil types, and because of it’s density is the slowest to warm in the spring. However, sandy soils, on the other hand, have larger, more rounded mineral particles creating more space between them. Water drains through it rapidly because there is more air in sandy soil. The loss of nutrients or leaching is greatest in sand; and consequently, requires more frequent watering and fertilizing than other types of soil. Now, loam is the ideal soil type for gardeners. It is a combination of clay, silt and sand particles mixed with organic matter. It neither dries out too quickly, nor leaches substantially. There is enough air space in loam to encourage healthy root growth.

Now my fellow mud brothers and sisters, Mother hopes you’ll tuck these valuable little garden gems on your spring bonnet. But please don’t think these are all the beads you’ll need to be the Prettiest Easter Child on your block!! We’ve got a few more pearls and lace to put on that headpiece before Peter Cottontail hops through town. So wash your teacup, honey because Mama’s brewin’ up a good ol’ batch of “earth tea” and bring it with you next time when we’ll chitchat ‘bout soil matter and amendments. If you just can’t wait, and I know a lot of you can’t, cuz it’s so good and rich, you can call me at (619) 871-YARD or visit with me on the website: www.mybackyardsd.com. Tah Tah, my sweeties. See you in the bushes!

Green Tips

Put the Bag on Plastic

The world uses between 500 billion and 1 trillion plastic grocery bags a year. About 3 percent become litter hanging from fences or trees, clogging storm drains, and causing problems for wildlife. Many bags are recycled. About 50% end up as waste.

67 bags weigh 1 pound, so 500 billion bags= 7,462,685,567 pounds of white plastic grocery bags going to landfills each year.

Pound for pound, plastics contain as much energy as petroleum or natural gas, so this represents the loss of almost 4 million tons of energy each year.

Always bring your own plastic bags to the grocery store to re-use for packing your purchases; and leave unwanted, extra bags for recycling.

Invest in good, durable cotton bags. These are the best type of bags for repeated use and can be laundered when dirty. Keep a number of them in your car for convenience, and keep American cotton growers happy.

Reduce the Amount of Junk Mail You Receive by 90 Percent

If you’re interested in living a more eco-friendly lifestyle, here’s something you can do that will help protect the environment and preserve your sanity: reduce the amount of junk mail you receive by 90 percent. Reducing the amount of junk mail you receive will save energy, natural resources, landfill space, tax dollars, and a lot of your personal time. For example:

5.6 million tons of catalogs and other direct mail advertisements end up in U.S. landfills annually.

The average American household receives unsolicited junk mail equal to 1.5 trees every year—more than 100 million trees for all U.S. households combined.
44 percent of junk mail is thrown away unopened, but only half that much junk mail (22 percent) is recycled.
Americans pay $370 million annually to dispose of junk mail that doesn’t get recycled.
On average, Americans spend 8 months opening junk mail in the course of their lives.
Register Your Name to reduce the volume of junk mail you receive with the Mail Preference Service of the Direct Marketing Association (DMA). It won’t guarantee you a life free of junk mail, but it can help. DMA will list you in its database in the “Do Not Mail” category. Direct marketers are not required to check the database, but most companies that send large volumes of bulk mail do use the DMA service.

Get Off the Lists, go to OptOutPreScreen.com, which can enable you to remove your name from lists that mortgage, credit card and insurance companies use to mail you offers and solicitations. It’s a centralized website run by the four major credit bureaus in the United States: Equifax, Experian, Innovis and TransUnion.

Under the Lily

Egopuss Rex